Mark DeRosa's unforgivable ignorance represents Team USA's biggest WBC problem

After starting off with three straight wins in the World Baseball Classic, Team USA fell on its face on Tuesday night with an 8-6 loss against Italy after a late comeback attempt fell short. There's plenty of blame to go around, but no one came out of it looking worse than United States manager Mark DeRosa, as the Americans now no longer control their own destiny to make it out of pool play and into the WBC quarterfinals.

As Italy jumped out to an 8-0 lead, an interview with DeRosa from MLB Network's Hot Stove started gaining traction on X — one in which the manager seemingly suggests that he believed the United States had already secured a berth in the knockout stage. And if that wasn't damning enough, MLB has since scrubbed the video from its website and social media platforms. Luckily, the internet is forever, and you can still see it here. It's fully and unequivocally indicative of Team USA's lacking mental approach to the World Baseball Classic.

Team USA can't excuse Mark DeRosa's baffling lack of accountability and awareness

What's just as bad is that DeRosa was asked about the quote after the Americans' loss to Italy on Tuesday night. His answer was anything but accountable and, frankly, only made him sound more confused, but in a way that would mirror a dog with his tail tucked between his legs after being scolded. Some will say he admitted to being wrong — it certainly didn't feel like accountability, though.

And if you needed any more evidence of that, just look at the lineup that United States ran out against Italy. DeRosa rested Brice Turang at second base for Ernie Clement, while Bryce Harper sat in favor of Paul Goldschmidt at first. Both Turang and Harper entered as pinch-hitters after Team USA had already dug itself a sizable hole, but it wasn't enough to push them to the victory.

At the end of the day, though, DeRosa is just an example of the bigger issue with the U.S. when it comes to the World Baseball Classic. It's easy to focus on one man's gaffe, but the fact that the manager of what is allegedly the best collection of baseball talent ever assembled was unaware of where his team stood in standings underscores the fact that the Americans, despite all their star power, still don't take this competition seriously enough to compete with the other countries that do.

Team USA will always be behind Japan, Dominican Republic with current mentality

If you're going by pure MLB talent, then Team USA should run away with the World Baseball Classic every time they play — especially this year, with the most loaded roster that the United States has ever brought to the tournament. Yes, Japan has Shohei Ohtani, but the depth of their roster, at least in MLB terms, isn't the same as what the other two contenders offer on paper.

Baseball has never been played on paper, though. And when you watch other powers like Japan and Dominican Republic, there's no world in which their manager or players would ever be caught in the position that Team USA was against Italy.

The respective managers wouldn't get caught not knowing their team's standing in the tournament and what's needed to advance. They wouldn't have trotted a cakewalk lineup out there as if the matchup with Italy was an exhibition they didn't have to care about. And you certainly would've seen more urgency in the game itself, rather than waiting until the late innings to bring in pinch hitters or make the necessary pitching changes.

While I don't think it's entirely fair, especially as far as the players are concerned, to say that Team USA doesn't care about the World Baseball Classic, it does feel as if the entire group (but especially the higher-ups) don't care enough, and definitely not as much as the D.R. or Japan do. Those two national teams live and breathe to try and win this tournament. The United States shows up and hopes to do well.

Don't believe me? Just look at other iterations of United States national teams and their coaches in relation to DeRosa, an MLB Network analyst and former player. Team USA men's basketball is led by a four-time NBA Finals winner in Steve Kerr. USA Hockey has a multi-time Stanley Cup Champion in Mike Sullivan. The USMNT even brought in a Champions League runner-up with plenty of European success in Mauricio Pochettino. And then there's USA Baseball, which tapped a cheerleader and talk show host with precious little tactical experience. It's completely incongruent, but indicative of where the program's mentality is.

You can see the discrepancy between the United States and the likes of Dominican Republic and Japan at every turn, too. The celebrations in the dugout and on the field. The way the players and managers speak to the media. This is something deeply prideful for them, and frankly, that's true dark horses like Italy or Mexico as well. For Team USA, though, this is just a fun way to spend the spring before the real season begins.

And because of that, it's another tournament that they might not continue playing in. Again, there are still paths for the Americans to get to the quarterfinals after losing to Italy, but the margins are now thin and out of their control. What's worse, DeRosa and Team USA have no one to blame but themselves and their approach.